Italy, Britain, Spain and France accounted for more than 20,000 deaths each.

Technology is likely to play an important role in helping countries ease their restrictions.

Many governments are working on mobile virus-tracking apps and other technology, keen for automated solutions to the time-consuming task of tracing an infected person’s contacts.

The apps can detect when a user comes near someone who is infected.

Activists and researchers worry about the privacy implications.

“We can’t allow our response to this pandemic to be used as a justification for compromising people’s digital safety and security,” said Michael Kleinman, director of Amnesty International’s Silicon Valley Initiative.